The extraordinary ‘Het Ondergewone’ provides an overview of current developments in the visual arts in The Hague. Through portraits of 55 artists from The Hague (all born after 1950), supplemented with the history of a number of artists’ initiatives, an image is given of the way in which the making of art is approached in The Hague today.

A striking common feature is the importance attached to the small and the everyday. This also explains the title, ‘Het Ondergewone’, which is inspired by the concept ‘l’infra-ordinaire’ by the French writer George Perec (1936-1982). Like Perec, many artists from The Hague set themselves the task of investigating that which seems so self-evident that we have forgotten its origins.The selection of the 55 artists from The Hague was made by Roel Arkesteijn (city curator GEM, museum for contemporary art The Hague), Maurits van de Laar (gallery owner The Hague), Arno van Roosmalen (former programme coordinator TENT. Rotterdam and currently director Stroom Den Haag), Ewoud van Rijn (visual artist in Rotterdam and working group member Stroom Den Haag), Domeniek Ruyters (editor-in-chief Metropolis M) and on behalf of Stroom Den Haag by Lily van Ginneken (former director Stroom Den Haag) and Jane Huldman.

The 55 artists from The Hague included in the book are:Loes Aarts, Philip Akkerman, Aris de Bakker, Justin Bennett, Harold de Bree, Richard Brouwer, Arnoud Dijkstra, Marcel van Eeden, Hans Ensink op Kemna, Gamal Ez, Diederik Gerlach, gerlach en koop, Christie van der Haak, Elsa Hartjesveld, José den Hartog, Simone van den Heuvel, Gerard Holthuis, Joke van Katwijk, Ton van Kints, René Klarenbeek, Leo van der Kleij, Kees Koomen, Leontine Lieffering, Sabrina Lindemann, Eelco van der Lingen, Annechien Meier, Ingrid Mol, Adriaan Nette, Arianne Olthaar, Marjolijn van der Meij, Jos de l’Orme, Ossip, Mark van Overeem, Hans van der Pennen, Karola Pezarro, Conny Kim Pols, Zeger Reyers, Ellen Rodenberg